Scope and Contents of the Materials

The letters in this small collection were written by Stephen Fuller Austin during trips to Mexico which were undertaken on behalf of the Texas colonists in an attempt to work out differences between the settlers and the Mexican government. The letters are addressed to Samuel M. Williams, a business associate of Austin, and Austin's sister and brother-in-law, Emily Austin Bryan Perry and James Franklin Perry, who were all living in or near San Felipe de Austin, Texas. All the letters except the one to Samuel M. Williams are included in THE AUSTIN PAPERS. Included with the letters is an original Texian Loan Certificate signed by Austin.

Collection Historical Note

Stephen Fuller Austin seems an unlikely man to carry the title of "the father of Texas." In an age of a volatile frontier where men fought battles destined to be immortalized in history, Austin acted as a peacekeeper and was regularly away at crucial times waging a war of words. A man devoted to the concept of family and steadfastly loyal to his relatives, Austin was never to marry.

Austin's entire life and energies were consumed by the flame of his passion for Texas. A few months before his untimely death on December 27, 1836, at the age of 43, Austin wrote "The prosperity of Texas has been the object of my labors, the idol of my existence-it has assumed the character of a religion, for the guidance of my thoughts and actions, for fifteen years." The traveling peacekeeper, free from his burdens, was finally able to find rest in the soil of his beloved Texas.